2.012 Keynotes

Moreno Barros, Professor

University of Rio de Janeiro
BRAZIL
Keynote Title: What Brazil Has to Offer?

Moreno is a librarian at the Technology Center at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. He is also a consultant for the National System of Public Libraries in Brazil and teaches at the UNIRIO library school. Has a master in Information Science from IBICT and is currently finishing his doctorate in Scientific Communication at UFRJ.

Barros is one of the most prominent social media librarians in Brazil. He's on a 10 year long run editing a blog on library stuff (bsf.org.br).

In 2011 he hosted a version of BarCamp unconference for Librarians, called BiblioCamp, at a public library in one the favelas in Rio. You can see more about his projects at morenobarros.com and follow him on facebook.com/moreno.

Keynote Description: In this talk I will offer an overview of libraries in Brazil, comprising the new public information policies, library-related technologies, efforts on digital libraries, social media and a brief profile of librarians.

Mal Booth, University Librarian

University of Technology, Sydney
AUSTRALIA
Keynote Title: Creativity and libraries: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means

Mal Booth is University Librarian at the University of Technology, Sydney. He also leads the planning team for the future Library as one of the major projects in the UTS Campus Master Plan. Current barrows he is pushing include: codesign; design thinking; sustainability; active community engagement; curation of collections; visual communications; and the development of cultural collections. He was formerly Head of the Research Centre at the Australian War Memorial and responsible for its library, archive and the Memorial’s web strategy.

Ngian Lek Choh, Director

Director, National Library of Singapore, Deputy Chief Executive of the National Library Board of Singapore; Senior Director of NLB's Service Innovation

Keynote Description:In today's highly interconnected internet and mobile world, the average user has access to a wide range of search engines and mobile devices to search and find information.

How do libraries add value to users when most of them are able to find the information that they need without the help of libraries and librarians. Many users have told us that they do not need the authoritative information that libraries and librarians say that libraries have, and that users may not have easy access outside the library's system. They just do not care enough for this, as they do not need that completeness nor total accuracy for most of their information needs.

The National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore has been developing and innovating its library services the past 17 years in an intensive manner. Today, we can say we are probably up there where the physical library service is concerned. Everything that can be automated and everything that we can let users do themselves are done by users. Though Singapore has a small population of 5.3 mil in an area of some 670 sq km, the NLB's 25 libraries receive over 38 mil visitors annually. And most of them are very satisfied users, at least in the realm of the physical library services.

Over the past 6-7 years, the NLB digitised a sizeable proportion of its heritage content, including complete runs of newspapers for eg, The Straits Times, from 1845 to date. The newspapers which are OCRed can be searched and retrieved from anywhere from 1845-1989 using keywords. Content after 1989 can be accessed onsite. This proves to be a very popular and highly valued service. Over 6 mil page views are recorded last year. A large proportion of these users found the NewspaperSG service through Google and other search engines.

Our focus now is to look at how we value add to users on the digital side. We feel that on top of just allowing users to key in keywords to search, there must be more effective ways to enable users to find what they want in an easy and precise manner, once they find us through any search engine. We present some of these ideas in our presentation, including linked data, data mining and text analysis. We will illustrate with some examples of how we foresee the way forward. Most of this work is still experimental and not conclusive yet.

School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts | Faculty of Humanities | Curtin University
AUSTRALIA
Keynote Title: Creativity and libraries: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means

Kathryn Greenhill is an author, presenter and facilitator who for over twenty years has been helping others learn about new technologies and the future of libraries. In the last three years she has given over 50 presentations and workshops in the United States, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia and New Zealand. She currently works as Associate Lecturer in Information Studies at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. You can connect with Kathryn at her blog, Librarians Matter.

Keynote Description: Libraries often claim to increase the creativity of their communities, with an implication that this is an important role for our future. "Creativity", however, is defined by creativity researchers in many different ways. Kathryn Greenhill's section of this keynote will give an academic's point of view, looking at how libraries use the term "creativity" and whether different definitions of creativity can help us be more precise when we talk about it, measure it and use it to justify our futures. Mal Booth will take a practitioner's view and discuss the exemplary initiatives and approaches to creativity implemented by the University of Technology, Sydney.

Susan Hildreth, Director

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)
USA
Keynote Title: A Vision of 21st Century Libraries

On January 19, 2011, President Obama appointed Susan Hildreth to be director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Hildreth has been the city librarian in Seattle for the past two years. Her nomination to her new post was confirmed by the US Senate by unanimous consent on December 22, 2010.

Before moving to Seattle, Hildreth served for five years as California’s state librarian, a position to which she was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Previously, Hildreth was at the San Francisco Public Library, where she served as deputy director and then city librarian. Her background also includes five years as deputy library director at the Sacramento Public Library, several years as Placer County's head librarian, and four years as library director for the Benicia Public Library, all in California. She began her career as a branch librarian at the Edison Township Library in New Jersey.

Hildreth was active in the American Library Association, serving as president of the Public Library Association in 2006. She has a master's degree in library science from State University of New York at Albany, a master's degree in business administration from Rutgers University, and a bachelor of arts, cum laude, from Syracuse University.

Keynote Description:

Sandra Hirsh, Professor and Director

School of Library & Information Science, San Jose State University
USA
Keynote Title: How to be a Catalyst for Change: Redefining the Library 2.0 Information Professional

Sandra Hirsh is Professor and Director of the School of Library and Information Science at San José State University. She has leveraged her knowledge as an information professional to pursue career opportunities with leading global companies. Prior to joining the School as Director, she worked in the Silicon Valley for more than a decade at major technology companies: Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, and LinkedIn. As an industry user experience researcher, leader, and manager, she contributed to R&D research projects and influenced the user experience of web, mobile, and TV consumer products resulting in 5 U.S. patents. She now heads up the world’s largest accredited graduate program in the field, ensuring that its curriculum continues to be responsive to emerging trends in the field. Dr. Hirsh’s research focuses on information-seeking behavior and understanding the information needs of a broad spectrum of users in the United States and around the world; this work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and has appeared in international conference proceedings. She speaks at and participates actively in several professional associations, including IFLA, American Society for Information Science & Technology (ASIST), and the American Library Association (ALA).

Keynote Description: It's time for us to take charge of the evolving information landscape and redefine what it means to be an information professional. As new technologies emerge, new opportunities for information professionals are emerging too. This talk explores some of the perceptions of our profession, and what we can do as information professionals to change them. Dr. Hirsh will outline how you can be a catalyst for change and inspire others to rethink the information profession.

Kia Siang Hock, Assistant Director, Infocomm

Siang Hock currently oversees the Solution Architect Office at the National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore. In this role, he and his team are heavily involved in the conceptualisation, PoCs and development of the various innovative services at NLB.

Keynote Description:In today's highly interconnected internet and mobile world, the average user has access to a wide range of search engines and mobile devices to search and find information.

How do libraries add value to users when most of them are able to find the information that they need without the help of libraries and librarians. Many users have told us that they do not need the authoritative information that libraries and librarians say that libraries have, and that users may not have easy access outside the library's system. They just do not care enough for this, as they do not need that completeness nor total accuracy for most of their information needs.

The National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore has been developing and innovating its library services the past 17 years in an intensive manner. Today, we can say we are probably up there where the physical library service is concerned. Everything that can be automated and everything that we can let users do themselves are done by users. Though Singapore has a small population of 5.3 mil in an area of some 670 sq km, the NLB's 25 libraries receive over 38 mil visitors annually. And most of them are very satisfied users, at least in the realm of the physical library services.

Over the past 6-7 years, the NLB digitised a sizeable proportion of its heritage content, including complete runs of newspapers for eg, The Straits Times, from 1845 to date. The newspapers which are OCRed can be searched and retrieved from anywhere from 1845-1989 using keywords. Content after 1989 can be accessed onsite. This proves to be a very popular and highly valued service. Over 6 mil page views are recorded last year. A large proportion of these users found the NewspaperSG service through Google and other search engines.

Our focus now is to look at how we value add to users on the digital side. We feel that on top of just allowing users to key in keywords to search, there must be more effective ways to enable users to find what they want in an easy and precise manner, once they find us through any search engine. We present some of these ideas in our presentation, including linked data, data mining and text analysis. We will illustrate with some examples of how we foresee the way forward. Most of this work is still experimental and not conclusive yet.

R. David Lankes, Director

R. David Lankes is a professor and Dean’s Scholar for the New Librarianship at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies and director of the Information Institute of Syracuse. His book, The Atlas of New Librarianship won the 2012 ABC-CLIO/Greenwood Award for the Best Book in Library Literature. Lankes is a passionate advocate for librarians and their essential role in today’s society.

Keynote Description: Librarianship has existed well over 3,000 years not by being static, but through constant reinvention. We are in the midsts of such a reinvention, from a field based on collections and access, to a profession grounded in communities and facilitation. This talk will examine the shifting landscape, the consequences of the shift to practice, and the need for a more proactive professional.

Jesus Lau, Researcher

Dr. Lau is Director of USBI VER Library at the University of Veracruzana, Mexico, where he created the school's first online course for undergraduates in Mexico. The course enables distance education programs in 28 public and private universities of Veracruz.

Jesus is President of the Mexican Association of Librarians (2009-2011) and has authored more than 150 papers and magazine articles, as well as 15 books in the field of information. Apart from SLA, he is also active in the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), notably founding its Information Literacy Section and coordinating the International Directory of Resources and Information Literacy.

Keynote Description: This presentation builds on two previous presentations with the aim to further discuss how media literacy (ML) and information literacy (IL) share the objective of having citizens with critical skills to evaluate and use information. However, each field has objectives and delivers information differently. ML tends to focus on mass media, such as newspapers, television, radio, signs, film, and social networking tools; IL tends, on the other hand, to focus on referenced information sources, such as journals, magazines, books, patents, and standards among other peer-evaluated publications. In terms of how information is accessed, media tends to reach out, or “follow” the user, while information has, in general, to be sought out. However, these fields have no clear and definite demarcation-- as in general both cover all sorts of media or information, with each taking independent actions to foster information competencies. Recently UNESCO took a combined approach to study and explore unified actions under the merged concept of media and information literacy (MIL). An account of UNESCO’s far-reaching efforts are included in this presentation, and if they proceed as planned, they will contribute to a more skilled global society. The additional objective of this paper, backgrounded in the literature of both fields, is to provide an overview of the conceptual convergence of media and information literacy, outline their differences, and delineate the benefits of combining efforts at national and international levels and the room that there is to collaborate.

Laura Malita, Social Informatics Lecturer

West University from Timisoara, Romania
ROMANIA
Keynote Title: Using Social Media for enhancing Academic Social Libraries’ services

Laura Malita is a computer analyst, senior lecturer at West University from Timisoara Romania having a PhD in sociological aspects of Web 2.0. She is university teacher at Faculty of Political Sciences, Philosophy and Sciences of Communication, Department of Philosophy and Sciences of Communication (which include also a Library and Information Science specialization where she is also a teacher with about 4 courses). She is also author of 4 recent books with topics ranged from digital storytelling, ePortfolios, employability and social media for academic purposes, published at different international publishing houses. She is also author or co-author of about 50 articled with social media and information topics. She is now writing a book about ebooks related topics. She is co-editor of Romanian Journal for Social Informatics, www.ris.uvt.ro. She had participate in about 30 international online and offline conference as speaker.

Keynote Description: Social media has becoming a buzzword in the last couple of years. After an inherent cultural resistance to social media, nowadays social media is beginning to make a considerable impact on higher education which also could be seen in rising in academic communities. In spite of the well known conservative library cultures, many academic librarians feel that they should be responding to the new challenges, as they could appreciate the opportunities social media is introducing to a library. By using social media tools and applications, the relationship between a library and its users is changing and evolving, especially as the main users of an academic library are students, which are considerate highly social media literate. More than that, they are expecting to see a real transition of library to the new social media era. Therefore, each academic library should consider seriously moving forward to a social academic library, aspects that will be detailed through this presentation.

Joe Murphy, Librarian, trend watcher / trend setter

USA
Keynote Title: Technology Trends

Joe Murphy is a Librarian and Technology Trend Spotter. He works as a consultant helping libraries and other industries prepare to meet upcoming technology shifts in the constantly evolving information landscape. His work focuses on technology trends and assisting stakeholders identify, understand, and adapt to changes in technology and information engagement.

Joe is an international keynote speaker, an author and editor, and a conference organizer. Joe worked at Yale as a Science Librarian from 2007 till 2011, earned a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Hawaii in 2006 and a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from Syracuse University. Joe enjoys sipping tea, traveling, poetry, and practicing yoga.

Chan Ping Wah, Senior Director

Keynote Description:In today's highly interconnected internet and mobile world, the average user has access to a wide range of search engines and mobile devices to search and find information.

How do libraries add value to users when most of them are able to find the information that they need without the help of libraries and librarians. Many users have told us that they do not need the authoritative information that libraries and librarians say that libraries have, and that users may not have easy access outside the library's system. They just do not care enough for this, as they do not need that completeness nor total accuracy for most of their information needs.

The National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore has been developing and innovating its library services the past 17 years in an intensive manner. Today, we can say we are probably up there where the physical library service is concerned. Everything that can be automated and everything that we can let users do themselves are done by users. Though Singapore has a small population of 5.3 mil in an area of some 670 sq km, the NLB's 25 libraries receive over 38 mil visitors annually. And most of them are very satisfied users, at least in the realm of the physical library services.

Over the past 6-7 years, the NLB digitised a sizeable proportion of its heritage content, including complete runs of newspapers for eg, The Straits Times, from 1845 to date. The newspapers which are OCRed can be searched and retrieved from anywhere from 1845-1989 using keywords. Content after 1989 can be accessed onsite. This proves to be a very popular and highly valued service. Over 6 mil page views are recorded last year. A large proportion of these users found the NewspaperSG service through Google and other search engines.

Our focus now is to look at how we value add to users on the digital side. We feel that on top of just allowing users to key in keywords to search, there must be more effective ways to enable users to find what they want in an easy and precise manner, once they find us through any search engine. We present some of these ideas in our presentation, including linked data, data mining and text analysis. We will illustrate with some examples of how we foresee the way forward. Most of this work is still experimental and not conclusive yet.

David Weinberger, Author

Too Big To Know
USA
Keynote Title: Library as Platform

David Weinberger is co-author of the best-seller The Cluetrain Manifesto, which InformationWeek called the most important business book since Tom Peter's In Search of Excellence. He is also the author of the critically-acclaimed Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web and of Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder. David is a senior researcher at Harvard Law's Berkman Center for the Internet & Society, Co-Director of the Harvard Library Innovation Lab at Harvard Law School, and is a Franklin Fellow at the United States State Department (2009-2011). He has been published in a wide variety of journals, including Wired and Harvard Business Review many times, as well as in Scientific American, The New York Times, Smithsonian, Foreign Policy, Salon, USA Today, the Boston Globe, The Guardian...even TV Guide. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (from the Univ. of Toronto) and taught philosophy in college for 6 years, has been a frequent commentator on National Public Radio, and is frequently cited by national and international news media.

Keynote Description: If we take as the mission of the library the enabling of networks that make us smarter, wiser, and more open, then it may help to think about libraries as being not portals but platforms. A portal gives access to resources, but a platform supports the emergence of an infrastructure for knowledge in the networked age, when knowledge has escaped the silent limitations of paper. But networked knowledge faces its own dangers, which libraries are in a unique position to address. In this talk we'll look at the transformation of knowledge, and the possibilities for libraries as platforms.

Jianzhong Wu, Director

Wu Jianzhong is Director of Shanghai Library, Shanghai, China. He received a BA in Japanese Studies and MA in Library Science from East China Normal University in 1978 and 1982 respectively, and received a PhD in Library Science from University of Wales in 1992. Since 2002, he has been Director of Shanghai Library and Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of Shanghai. He served as Advisor on the Theme Development for the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, Vice Chairman of Library Society of China, President of Shanghai Society of Library Science, and a member of the Governing Board of IFLA. He has authored and co-authored over 20 books including New Perspectives on the Library of the 21st Century, Reflections on World Expo, and New Library Buildings of the World.

Keynote Description: Today, the library is in the exploratory phase of transition from the old paradigm to a new one, but there is no mature model to follow. Dr. Wu Jianzhong attempts to find out the central issue in this changing environment and apply it to the whole process of library operation. In Dr. WU’s opinion, this central issue is people-orientation. Only when a library is people-oriented and demand-driven, can it advances with the times and adapt to the changing environment. Starting from the three elements of people, resources and space, he will lay great stress on people in the whole library operation. He will take the Shanghai Library as an example to show how the library is surviving in this exploratory phase of transition.

DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS

Stephen Abram, VP

Stephen Abram, MLS, is Past-President 2008 of SLA and the past-President of the Ontario and Canadian Library Associations. He received the 2011 CLA Outstanding Service to Librarianship Award in. He is the Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and Markets for Cengage Learning (Gale). He was Vice President Innovation for SirsiDynix and Chief Strategist for the SirsiDynix Institute. He was Publisher Electronic Information at Thomson after managing several libraries. Stephen was listed by Library Journal as one of the top 50 people influencing the future of libraries. He has received numerous honours and speaks regularly internationally. His columns appear in Information Outlook and Internet @ Schools. He is the author of ALA Editions' bestselling Out Front with Stephen Abram and has four books coming out in 2012/13. His blog, Stephen's Lighthouse, is a very popular blog in the library sector.

Michael Stephens, Assistant Professor

School of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University
USA
SessionTitles:
Our Common Purpose: Libraries and LIS Education in Flux
“23 Things” as Transformative Learning: Promoting Confidence, Curiosity and Communication via Library Staff Professional Development

Dr. Michael Stephens is an Assistant Professor in the School of Library and Information Science at San Jose State University. His research focuses on use of emerging technologies in libraries and technology learning programs. He currently writes the monthly column “Office Hours” in Library Journal exploring issues, ideas and emerging trends in library and information science education. Stephens has spoken about emerging technologies, innovation, and libraries to audiences in over 26 states and in nine countries. He is fascinated by library buildings and virtual spaces that center around users, participation, creating content, and encouraging the heart.